The present invention relates generally to a caller interactive attendant bypass system where a caller may bypass a switchboard attendant without receiving a generated voice message.
Many systems exist which switch routine prerecorded messages to the calling party, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,111,561. Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,696,028 discloses a PBX intercept system which is interactive with a caller to establish a communication path directly to the desired called party without the intervention of a switchboard attendant. The system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,696,028 utilizes a message system which instructs the caller about a number of potentially desired extension numbers which may be dialed while the message continues. If the caller does not know with which extension number he desires to communicate, the instructional message informs the caller either to dial a designated switchboard attendant's number for assistance or wait for assistance.
While the system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,696,028 is fine for those individuals knowing which extension they desire to call, individuals not knowing which extension they desire may either not want any of the recited extensions or not be sure which extension is best for them. This means the caller must listen to the entire message before being connected to a live operator for assistance.
It will be appreciated that a certain percentage of our society has a very strong dislike for listening to prerecorded messages. The concept of talking and listening to machines is a long way from being accepted by all humans. Some people have such a hatred of such systems that they will immediately hang up upon receiving a prerecorded message or computer generated voice. Additionally, it will be appreciated that the time delay for people unfamiliar with such a system who are required to wait until the entire message has been communicated before being connected to a live operator is aggravating and wasteful. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a system which enables an incoming call to be completed directly to the desired party without the intervention of an attendant while at the same time minimizing delays for callers unfamiliar with the system. The present invention further eliminates the undesirable reactions associated with receiving a prerecorded message generated from the system.
Another problem with existing systems that do not utilize specialized trunk facilities, such as Direct Inward Dial (DID) trunk facilities is that once the caller receives the extension and obtains a busy signal or completes the call, the caller must hang up and redial the number even if he desired to talk to additional parties. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a system which allows the incoming caller upon completion of his discussion with a particular extension or upon receiving a busy signal to be able to dial other extensions without losing the line.